What Is a Friend For? Part Two

John 15: 12 – 19

Jesus said, “No longer do I call you servants… but I have called you friends…”  Thus, He paid us a supreme compliment.  The word “friend” in English, as in its Greek equivalent “philos,” conveys the idea of loving and being loved.  There is something warm and pleasant about it.

The secret of success in one’s search for friends is found in the wisdom of Solomon who wrote: “A man who has friends must himself be friendly” (Proverbs 18:24).  An unknown poet expressed it:
“I went out to find a friend,
But could not find one there,
Then I went out to be a friend,
And there were friends everywhere!”

An English publication ran a contest seeking the best definition of a friend. The winner was: “A friend — the one who walks in when the world walks out.”

Jesus perfected the art of friendship; and after patterning it, passed it on to His followers.  By example and expression He answered the question: “What is a friend?”

However, laying down your life involves more than looking into the gray face of death. There is a principle of slow sacrifice folded into the words of the Saviour.

It is as hard at duty’s call,
To lay one’s life down day by day,
As to lay it down once for all.

Friendship motivates one to daily help another.

It means to make joy possible for those who walk in the shadow of sorrow.

It is to make goodness possible for those who stand in the darkness of temptation.

Illustrative of this are mothers who are laying down their lives daily bit-by-bit for their children.

It is to venture into the world day by day to minister and not be ministered unto. It is to let the message of your music become the harmony of your life.

Now read this little poem again and in light of it go out and show yourself as a friend to those around you. You will find there are many in need of your friendship.
“I went out to find a friend,
But could not find one there,
Then I went out to be a friend,
And there were friends everywhere!”